AWI Quarterly » 2007 Summer

Only minutes into the opening ceremony of the "Call of the Wild"-themed 14th Conference of the Parties (CoP 14) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it was clear that hopes of gaining trade protections for some of the world’s most imperiled species would become overshadowed by concerns about livelihoods, politics and profits.

Our study was conducted on caged animals during their semi-annual testing and physical exam for tuberculosis, with the goal of comparing the efficacy of two orally dosed anesthetic regimens for chemical immobilization in rhesus macaques versus the standard protocol of intramuscular ketamine. The effects of the dosing route on hematological stress were also evaluated.

Laboratory mice are one of the most commonly used animals in biomedical research, meaning that relatively small changes to their early husbandry could have lasting effects on the health and well-being of millions of animals.

With primary startup funding from the Animal Welfare Institute, researchers from the University of California at Davis have developed BioSafaris, a project using the latest interactive learning technology to address the current gap in pre-college biology education.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) just published Making Lives Easier for Animals in Research Labs, a new book of discussions that took place through our online Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF) between October 2002 and May 2007.

In a story based on a real-life animal sanctuary located just outside of Bangkok, Thailand, author Elizabeth Stanley tells the tale of Buddhist monks who care for Indo-Chinese tigers. These animals are one of the world’s most endangered species; it is estimated that fewer than 250 remain in Thailand, due to poaching and habitat loss caused bydeforestation.

As the world eagerly gears up for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China’s record of animal cruelty is being revealed to all. At the country’s fur farms, foxes, rabbits, mink and other furbearing animals are exposed to extreme weather conditions and confined to small, barren wire mesh cages before being transported under horrendous conditions to be skinned.